Intel buying Mobileye for $15.3B to expand further into self-driving technology
In the largest purchase of an Israeli tech company ever, Apple chip partner Intel will dole out $15.3 billion for Mobileye, a company known for anti-collision, driver assistance, and autonomous driving solutions.
Intel and Mobileye collaborated in a test of self-driving hardware and software with BMW. No commercial projects have materialized as of yet, but about 40 test vehicles will hit the road in Europe later in 2017 as a result.
"Put just one million autonomous vehicles on the road and you have the data equivalent of half the world's population," said Intel CEO Briann Krzanich. "Our strategy is to make Intel the driving force of the data revolution across every technology and every industry. We are a DATA company. The businesses we focus on, and deliver solutions to, create, use and analyze massive amounts of data."
Mobileye used STM chips for its products that it is currently supplying to auto manufacturers. A shift to Intel-produced chips is expected by 2020.
The deal will see Intel's Automated Driving Group (ADG) integrated into Mobileye, according to Mobileye's founders. Intel's ADG, currently located in California, will be headquartered in Israel.
"Combining forces will help accelerate our plans and lower our execution risks," Mobileye founders Ziv Aviram and Amnon Shashua said in a memo to employees. "We aim to become the leading team in autonomous driving. We want to make an impact on the world and this acquisition will enable us to accomplish that."
Mobileye was founded in 1999 in Israel. It launched an IPO in 2014, and had a market value of $10.6 billion before the buyout deal was announced. Tesla ceased doing business with Mobileye after a self-driving system related crash in 2016 caused the death of a driver.
The deal is for $63.54 per share in cash, and regulatory approvals aren't expected to conclude until the end of 2017.
Rumors of Apple's interest in creating a branded self-driving car surfaced early in 2015. Dubbed Project Titan, the internal initiative was reportedly staffed by more than 1,000 engineers and other personnel working out of top secret labs in Sunnyvale, Calif., some of whom were pulled from other consumer product teams.
According to the most recent rumblings, Apple has pivoted away from a full-fledged self-driving car platform and is now focusing on the development of autonomous vehicle software and supporting hardware. Interestingly, Apple's driverless product, if it ever materializes, might intersect with the company's augmented reality initiative. In October, reports claimed Apple is currently testing AR-based navigation and other autonomous vehicle solutions using virtual reality simulators.
Intel and Mobileye collaborated in a test of self-driving hardware and software with BMW. No commercial projects have materialized as of yet, but about 40 test vehicles will hit the road in Europe later in 2017 as a result.
"Put just one million autonomous vehicles on the road and you have the data equivalent of half the world's population," said Intel CEO Briann Krzanich. "Our strategy is to make Intel the driving force of the data revolution across every technology and every industry. We are a DATA company. The businesses we focus on, and deliver solutions to, create, use and analyze massive amounts of data."
Mobileye used STM chips for its products that it is currently supplying to auto manufacturers. A shift to Intel-produced chips is expected by 2020.
The deal will see Intel's Automated Driving Group (ADG) integrated into Mobileye, according to Mobileye's founders. Intel's ADG, currently located in California, will be headquartered in Israel.
"Combining forces will help accelerate our plans and lower our execution risks," Mobileye founders Ziv Aviram and Amnon Shashua said in a memo to employees. "We aim to become the leading team in autonomous driving. We want to make an impact on the world and this acquisition will enable us to accomplish that."
Mobileye was founded in 1999 in Israel. It launched an IPO in 2014, and had a market value of $10.6 billion before the buyout deal was announced. Tesla ceased doing business with Mobileye after a self-driving system related crash in 2016 caused the death of a driver.
The deal is for $63.54 per share in cash, and regulatory approvals aren't expected to conclude until the end of 2017.
Rumors of Apple's interest in creating a branded self-driving car surfaced early in 2015. Dubbed Project Titan, the internal initiative was reportedly staffed by more than 1,000 engineers and other personnel working out of top secret labs in Sunnyvale, Calif., some of whom were pulled from other consumer product teams.
According to the most recent rumblings, Apple has pivoted away from a full-fledged self-driving car platform and is now focusing on the development of autonomous vehicle software and supporting hardware. Interestingly, Apple's driverless product, if it ever materializes, might intersect with the company's augmented reality initiative. In October, reports claimed Apple is currently testing AR-based navigation and other autonomous vehicle solutions using virtual reality simulators.
Comments
I predict the industry to lose the most amount of money over the next decade to be the self-driving circle jerk. The genius technology that absolutely nobody asked for.
Seriously what is this industry going to do when they've tested all they can test, fixed all they fix, and when they are ready to finally turn it into a revenue business after decades of loss... the ENTIRE population gives it a collective "nope"?
So I predict that the best systems will employ a "whatever it takes" attitude rather than a "we only do X" attitude.
I have always thought that "transportation as a service" is the winning business model here, and it's starting to look like that's the bet many companies are making.
I'm certainly very curious to see how Apple fits in. Some of their advantages are:
1. Brand trust (big contrast with Uber)
2. Integrated ecosystem (big contrast with traditional automakers)
3. Massive pile of cash (big contrast with Tesla)
Perhaps Apple's role in the self-driving car world could be analogous to the app store and HomeKit -- that is, they act as a curator, standards-enforcer, and UI/UX gateway.
The result is that hailing a self-driving car with an iPhone will yield the best experience.
Conclusion? Mobileye doesn't have any worthwhile technology.
I predict that we will discover that if a significant number of computer-driven vehicles take to the road then our traffic congestion problems will increase. While AI might improve on reducing collisions (which can be really bad traffic time wasters during peak periods) I have noticed that AI driven vehicles are slow, slow to accelerate, and leave excessive following distance -- even during normal traffic conditions. Source: linkman watching Google self-driving vehicles.
And you may have missed the news. Have already been at least two self-driving fatalities. Compared to the 100 odd "fully in control" American drivers that kill themselves every day.
That is the only important thing in this conversation about self driving cars. Everyone keep claiming it is safety, this is only a true statement when a 100% of the cars are self driving. The system depend on predictability not chaos theory. Humans are inherently unpredictable and when you put chaos in to a system which depends on predictability people die. Until someone can guarantee me the prime directive of the car that is driving is to protect my life at all cost even at the expense of others doing stupid things then you can not trust them. You had to ask your self what will the car do when others around you act in a way which the automatic tries to avoid of can not avoid and kills you in the mean time. Who do you find at fault, it is not an easy question to answer.
I will give a real world example, a friend just bought a 2017 Volvo with all this self driving tech, it will drive the car while in cruise control and stay in it lane and keep you from coming up on the cars in front of you, However, it the car is unable to determine the lane you are in it will just kick it self out of cruise control with no warning. I get why the car is doing it but it become unnerving when the car does things you are not expecting at that moment.
- A cheaper more efficient "uber" when you need it
- The ability to not own a car at all - get the right car at the right time. Small car for quick commutes, luxury car for a special occasion.
- The complete removal of the need to park... ever
- The reduction in traffic congestion because roads are used for driving, not lines of parked cars
- The ability for the elderly etc. to get transport easily
- Food etc. to be cheaper because transport is through automated trucks
- Businesses that can offer excellent delivery options because they use an automated delivery service to their customers
It seriously goes on and on and on - self-driving tech will completely change how the world works.